Campaign to recall Wisconsin governor kicks off... with no clear replacement in sight

The effort to recall Wisconsin's controversial Republican governor is expected to begin on Tuesday, although his opponents have yet to come up with a candidate to replace him.

The recall effort comes in response to a Wisconsin law passed earlier this year that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers.

Governor Scott Walker's proposal sparked weeks of protests that drew tens of thousands of people to the state Capitol, and two Republican state senators who supported it were ousted in recalls last summer.

Divisive: Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker, elected last autumn, listens during the 2011 Governors Summit of U.S. Chamber of Commerce in DC in June

Seven other lawmakers targeted for their support or opposition of the law survived recall elections.

Walker, who was elected last fall, isn't eligible for recall until he has been in office for one year. Democrats have been working closely with union leaders on the effort, and they plan to kick off their petition drive on Tuesday.

They must gather more than 540,000 signatures by January 17 to force a recall election.

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The governor has already started raising money to fight the recall thanks to a donor who filed paperwork on November 4 for a fake recall effort. The manoeuvre allowed Walker to begin accepting unlimited donations.

Nicole Larson, spokeswoman for the state
Republican Party, responded to the recall effort by saying Walker
'remains completely focused on the task at hand - saving taxpayer
dollars and creating a business friendly climate so Wisconsinites can
get back to work.'

Uproar: Thousands protest outside the State Capitol in March in response to a state law that effectively ended collective bargaining for public workers

Meanwhile, potential candidates to replace Walker are jockeying for position behind the scenes and preparing for a primary to narrow the field if the party doesn't unite behind one person.

The possibilities include former U.S.
Representative Dave Obey, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and state Senator
Jon Erpenbach - one of 14 state senators who fled to Illinois in an
ultimately futile effort to block a vote on Walker's bill. Former Dane
County Executive Kathleen Falk also could be a contender. Her home area
includes Madison, the state capital.

'I think people really do, at some level,
believe a rocking chair with nobody sitting in it would be a better
governor than Scott Walker.'

- Democratic Party strategist Sachin Chheda

Democratic strategists would love to convince one of the two biggest names in Democratic politics - former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and retiring U.S. Senator Herb Kohl - to run, but they believe they could win with a candidate who has some name recognition even if the person has never held statewide office.

'I think people really do, at some level, believe a rocking chair with nobody sitting in it would be a better governor than Scott Walker,' Democratic Party strategist Sachin Chheda said.

Marty Beil, executive director of the 23,000-member Wisconsin State Employees Union, said he's not worried about Democrats not yet coalescing around a candidate.

'I believe that we get the signatures, then we get the candidate,' Beil said.

United: The demonstrators were joined by the 14 Democrat state senators who had fled to Illinois to avoid voting on Walker's budget repair bill

But former Democratic Party chairman
Joe Wineke said that although he didn't feel a rush to choose a nominee,
some party members are 'very nervous about the lack of a defined
candidate' as petitions are being circulated.

Neither Feingold nor Kohl appears interested. Feingold, who lost his bid for reelection last year, said he wouldn't run for anything in 2012, and Kohl's spokesman has said the 76-year-old senator has no desire to run. He's retiring when his Senate term ends next year.

Obey said he would like to see Kohl or Barrett run to replace Walker, but if they don't, he won't rule out running himself. The 73-year-old served more than 40 years in Congress and was a powerful force behind the scenes in Democratic politics for decades.

'We'll cross if we come to it,' Obey said. 'Right now, my main purpose is to try to convince one of them to run and see to it that people remember there's a huge amount at stake and we cannot afford to have the opposition to the governor split in different directions.'

To that end, he said the priority must be making it clear to the public that the recall effort is moving forward.

'The issue is Scott Walker,' Obey said. 'The issue is not candidate A or candidate B.'